Recommended Reloading Equipment

[nheninge]

Olsonj85, I use

1)Forster and K&M arbor press where appropriate
2)Forster/Redding FL or S type neck dies
3)HOT 100 forster neck turner
4)Wilson/Sinclair ultimate trimmer w/ micrometer
5)RCBS chargemaster w/ checkweights
6)Custom wilson style seater die chambered w/ same reamer (if custom barrel) or forster/redding competition seating dies for factory barrels.
7)Assortment of Sinclair/mitutoyo/starrett gauges
8)Sinclair deburring/chamfering tools
9)Sinclair neck sorting tool
10)Sinclair primer seating tool

**Sinclair drill bit case driver adapter (might just be best investment for the money!!!)

This may seem like alot, but over several years, the wife hardly knew what hit her! Start with the basics and buy 1 nice tool every other month!

 

[Winchester 69]

There's no point in buying stuff that's working against you. The trick is in identifying it. Is it green? Is it red? What shade? Where's it made? So Lee's good, why's it so cheap?

Questions. Questions. Who can you believe? So it's cheap. Should you believe it? So people have been using it for 50 years. Is it still the same?

So long as people are shading the truth, you'll have to find out for yourself. Wouldn't it help if those making recommendations knew what they are talking about? Why don't they? Or do they? Do they know?

Gee. I forgot to mention blue.
.

 

[nheninge]

Love your post Winchester69, but not sure it helped the thread starter! Probably confused the hell out of him! Oh Oh, what color am I?

 

[Winchester 69]

For those who haven't used the equipment, or even seen it, maybe reading these posts gives them a perspective. I doubt it. Fifty years from now, they'll still be recommending the stuff that they bought when they didn't know what they were doing. That's optimistic. The subversives will have outlawed the practice.

The novices need to be able to evaluate what they're buying after the guidance. Not just buying on the impressions they've formed after reading feedback to their questions.

It should be broken down into two categories: what's good, and what people use anyway. Who provides the criteria? Ain't nuthin' published. How do you make a decision? Go and look for yourself, if you can tell the difference.
.

 

[nheninge]

Political views aside, your view is fair enough, but rather pessimistic. My parents can't even turn on a computer! I actually brought home some of my dad's old .30-06 reloads, but I won't even shoot them. Seems I made a bit of progress in 20 years.

I agree. Use the range to determine what works for you. Use science and theory to develop a load and art of the science to put it in the x ring! Too many people rely on what they "have heard works". However, what is good for you, may not be good for someone else, so keep an open mind.

So fifty years from now my views will be BS? I'm ok with the fact that my son won't agree with my views in fifty years, but he **** sure (as taught) will base his views on PROOF and experimentation.

Never underestimate human stupidity, human panic, or a liberals idea of "gun control"

 

[boomtube]

"If... you are an old retired husband that enjoys tinkering in the garage while the kids are off to college and your wife cooks in the kitchen (boomtube?), maybe all those "traditional" methods work well...for you"

I resemble that remark! And, yeah, it seems your last comment - 'for you'' - is the key to our collective wisdom.

I'm a rifleman who shoots a little pistol. For a lot of reasons, seems my clan is a minority these days, acess to rifle ranges is a big factor I know.

Rife ammo for target, varmint and long range hunting does NOT respond well to speedy methods, IMHO. But fun plinking, casual target shooting and most of the current pistol sports need larger volumes of non-critical ammo. That doesn't suffer much from speed loading and are more agreeable to the pressures of time. Perhaps we, and our questioners, would all be better seved IF we point out what perspective we are seeing things from.

My kids are long out of college, thank God! And I am fortunate enough to own 10 acres along a river bottom that include my own 100 yd. range. I no longer punch a clock so I do have more free time than I used to. It's not much, really, but it's MINE! (And any of you are welcome to visit! )

 

[Buffalobob]

If... you are an old retired husband that enjoys tinkering in the garage while the kids are off to college and your wife cooks in the kitchen (boomtube?), maybe all those "traditional" methods work well...for you"

My wife still works and I do the cooking.

I have no need for a $300 annealing device when I can go out to the garage and find a carriage bolt and socket and hook it up to my drill. Neither do I need a $300 computer driven automatic metering powder measurer when I can sit and use my old RCBS balance and measure them one at a time while watching "Blade" or "Kill Bill" or "Doom". With the money I save I can buy a preference point for a Desert Bighorn sheep in Nevada, apply for two permits for deer and two for elk and another Desert Bighorn in Utah and six tags for antelope in Wyoming - all at nonresident prices. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration the more I think about it. Those nonresident tags are pretty expensive.

Plus my ammo is money back guaranteed to kill animals at long range - real animals not the commonly killed invisible ones.

 

[nheninge]

I wish I had my own range! Fortunately, I live in the deserts of New Mexico and can pretty much shoot up to a mile with just a 10 minute drive and our local club range is a 20 minute drive. Lots of open country here

You give good sound advice boomtube and thanks for the invite. Same goes here! Keep up the good writing!

 

[nheninge]

Buffalobob, have you priced a good set of beam type scales lately? The cheaper models are crap with plastic parts (new RCBS balance scale i was not impressed with), and a good set is around 150$. So when I bought my RCBS chargemaster, what is an extra 150$ to spring for the extra brainpower? The chargemaster can be bought for 300 virtually everywhere, and I have seem a few go for $250 or so on ebay. The true tale will be how long these machines can last. Will I be using my same chargemaster in 20 years...??? (probably not)

All the cost of reloading is nothing compared to the pricetag of a custom rifle!

 

[Buffalobob]

My scale is 20 years old and is all metal. No foreign oil in mine, just good ole American strip mining and let the dirt run downhill into the river.

You might want to check you calculator as it may be made out of cheap plastic. The last f-class match cost me $104.00 in reloaded ammo alone (that does not include any match fees). The cost of reloading components and dies has almost exceeded the cost of the custom rifle I use (minus the scope).

 

[nheninge]

Especially since you can't have just one rifle! More rifles mean more dies and more components and more scopes. Its a vicious cycle. Have to include the cost of the scope though unless your shooting iron sights!

Yep, calculator says made in China! Chinese plans for world domination are to ship other countries (US) all the cheap crap that breaks, so when they attack we won't have anything here that actually works!

 

[justgoharder]

No foreign oil in mine, just good ole American strip mining and let the dirt run downhill into the river.

a bit off the main topic - but i am still LMAO after reading that! Reminds me of the 'town' I grew up in. More mine tailings than normal dirt!

In my opinion, while this site is an amazing resource, i think many people need to get to the garage and reload or get out to the range or buy a tag and go to the woods rather than worry worry worry about what their equipment so much. Don't get me wrong, I've asked my far share of 'what to buy' questions. but i honestly believe that much of the equipment that guys have will out shoot many of the shooters. the only way to fix that is to go shooting!!!

Back to the real topic - the best way to start reloading is to try and find someone that can teach you hands on. If you don't know anyone close by, try this forum. chances are someone within driving distance will be more than willing to help out. That way you can figure out what works for you without having to pay full cost for everything up front. Then you can piece together a personal 'starter kit' designed just for you! I suggest this simply because that's what has always worked for me, i get too confused looking at the 45 different chamfering tools available on midway trying to decide which one is the best.

 

[nheninge]

I can guarantee that my equipment can outshoot me! But this is how I want it. This leaves plenty of room for improvement in the real weak link in the chain...ME!

I do think people think sometimes assume that the fancier the equipment bought somehow magically make you a marksman. Fact is though, shooting sports can be an expensive hobby altogether.

People should use the range to answer their questions, but some questions are very legitimate and this website is VERY diverse. All kinds of questions/answers from very different thinking minds.

Reloading feeds the OCRD genes